34 research outputs found
Measuring the Hidden Aspects of Solar Magnetism
2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of astrophysical magnetic
fields, when George Ellery Hale recorded the Zeeman splitting of spectral lines
in sunspots. With the introduction of Babcock's photoelectric magnetograph it
soon became clear that the Sun's magnetic field outside sunspots is extremely
structured. The field strengths that were measured were found to get larger
when the spatial resolution was improved. It was therefore necessary to come up
with methods to go beyond the spatial resolution limit and diagnose the
intrinsic magnetic-field properties without dependence on the quality of the
telescope used. The line-ratio technique that was developed in the early 1970s
revealed a picture where most flux that we see in magnetograms originates in
highly bundled, kG fields with a tiny volume filling factor. This led to
interpretations in terms of discrete, strong-field magnetic flux tubes embedded
in a rather field-free medium, and a whole industry of flux tube models at
increasing levels of sophistication. This magnetic-field paradigm has now been
shattered with the advent of high-precision imaging polarimeters that allow us
to apply the so-called "Second Solar Spectrum" to diagnose aspects of solar
magnetism that have been hidden to Zeeman diagnostics. It is found that the
bulk of the photospheric volume is seething with intermediately strong, tangled
fields. In the new paradigm the field behaves like a fractal with a high degree
of self-similarity, spanning about 8 orders of magnitude in scale size, down to
scales of order 10 m.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the
Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200
A Substantial Amount of Hidden Magnetic Energy in the Quiet Sun
Deciphering and understanding the small-scale magnetic activity of the quiet
solar photosphere should help to solve many of the key problems of solar and
stellar physics, such as the magnetic coupling to the outer atmosphere and the
coronal heating. At present, we can see only of the complex
magnetism of the quiet Sun, which highlights the need to develop a reliable way
to investigate the remaining 99%. Here we report three-dimensional radiative
tranfer modelling of scattering polarization in atomic and molecular lines that
indicates the presence of hidden, mixed-polarity fields on subresolution
scales. Combining this modelling with recent observational data we find a
ubiquitous tangled magnetic field with an average strength of G,
which is much stronger in the intergranular regions of solar surface convection
than in the granular regions. So the average magnetic energy density in the
quiet solar photosphere is at least two orders of magnitude greater than that
derived from simplistic one-dimensional investigations, and sufficient to
balance radiative energy losses from the solar chromosphere.Comment: 21 pages and 2 figures (letter published in Nature on July 15, 2004
Probability Density Functions to Represent Magnetic Fields at the Solar Surface
Numerical simulations of magneto-convection and analysis of solar magnetogram
data provide empirical probability density functions (PDFs) for the
line-of-sight component of the magnetic field. In this paper, we theoretically
explore effects of several types of PDFs on polarized Zeeman line formation. We
also propose composite PDFs to account for randomness in both field strength
and orientation. Such PDFs can possibly mimic random fields at the solar
surface.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the
Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200
Selective Absorption Processes as the Origin of Puzzling Spectral Line Polarization from the Sun
Magnetic fields play a key role in most astrophysical systems, from the Sun
to active galactic nuclei. They can be studied through their effects on atomic
energy levels, which produce polarized spectral lines. In particular,
anisotropic radiation pumping processes (which send electrons to higher atomic
levels) induce population imbalances that are modified by weak magnetic fields.
Here we report peculiarly polarized light in the He I 10830-\AA multiplet
observed in a coronal filament located at the centre of the solar disk. We show
that the polarized light arises from selective absorption from the ground level
of the triplet system of helium, and that it implies the presence of magnetic
fields of the order of a few gauss that are highly inclined with respect to the
solar radius vector. This disproves the common belief that population
imbalances in long-lived atomic levels are insignificant in the presence of
inclined fields with strengths in the gauss range, and demonstrates the
operation of the ground-level Hanle effect in an astrophysical plasma.Comment: 22 pages and 4 figure
The Hanle Effect in 1D, 2D and 3D
This paper addresses the problem of scattering line polarization and the
Hanle effect in one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) and
three-dimensional (3D) media for the case of a two-level model atom without
lower-level polarization and assuming complete frequency redistribution. The
theoretical framework chosen for its formulation is the QED theory of Landi
Degl'Innocenti (1983), which specifies the excitation state of the atoms in
terms of the irreducible tensor components of the atomic density matrix. The
self-consistent values of these density-matrix elements is to be determined by
solving jointly the kinetic and radiative transfer equations for the Stokes
parameters. We show how to achieve this by generalizing to Non-LTE polarization
transfer the Jacobi-based ALI method of Olson et al. (1986) and the iterative
schemes based on Gauss-Seidel iteration of Trujillo Bueno and Fabiani Bendicho
(1995). These methods essentially maintain the simplicity of the
Lambda-iteration method, but their convergence rate is extremely high. Finally,
some 1D and 2D model calculations are presented that illustrate the effect of
horizontal atmospheric inhomogeneities on magnetic and non-magnetic resonance
line polarization signals.Comment: 14 pages and 5 figure
Central Powering of the Largest Lyman-alpha Nebula is Revealed by Polarized Radiation
High-redshift Lyman-alpha blobs are extended, luminous, but rare structures
that appear to be associated with the highest peaks in the matter density of
the Universe. Their energy output and morphology are similar to powerful radio
galaxies, but the source of the luminosity is unclear. Some blobs are
associated with ultraviolet or infrared bright galaxies, suggesting an extreme
starburst event or accretion onto a central black hole. Another possibility is
gas that is shock excited by supernovae. However some blobs are not associated
with galaxies, and may instead be heated by gas falling into a dark matter
halo. The polarization of the Ly-alpha emission can in principle distinguish
between these options, but a previous attempt to detect this signature returned
a null detection. Here we report on the detection of polarized Ly-alpha from
the blob LAB1. Although the central region shows no measurable polarization,
the polarized fraction (P) increases to ~20 per cent at a radius of 45 kpc,
forming an almost complete polarized ring. The detection of polarized radiation
is inconsistent with the in situ production of Ly-alpha photons, and we
conclude that they must have been produced in the galaxies hosted within the
nebula, and re-scattered by neutral hydrogen.Comment: Published in the August 18 issue of Nature. 1750 words, 3 figures,
and full Supplementary Information. Version has not undergone proofing.
Reduced and processed data products are available here:
http://obswww.unige.ch/people/matthew.hayes/LymanAlpha/LabPol
Recent Advances in Chromospheric and Coronal Polarization Diagnostics
I review some recent advances in methods to diagnose polarized radiation with
which we may hope to explore the magnetism of the solar chromosphere and
corona. These methods are based on the remarkable signatures that the
radiatively induced quantum coherences produce in the emergent spectral line
polarization and on the joint action of the Hanle and Zeeman effects. Some
applications to spicules, prominences, active region filaments, emerging flux
regions and the quiet chromosphere are discussed.Comment: Review paper to appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and
the Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S. S. Hasan and R. J. Rutten, Astrophysics
and Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, 200
Magnetic Coupling in the Quiet Solar Atmosphere
Three kinds of magnetic couplings in the quiet solar atmosphere are
highlighted and discussed, all fundamentally connected to the Lorentz force.
First the coupling of the convecting and overshooting fluid in the surface
layers of the Sun with the magnetic field. Here, the plasma motion provides the
dominant force, which shapes the magnetic field and drives the surface dynamo.
Progress in the understanding of the horizontal magnetic field is summarized
and discussed. Second, the coupling between acoustic waves and the magnetic
field, in particular the phenomenon of wave conversion and wave refraction. It
is described how measurements of wave travel times in the atmosphere can
provide information about the topography of the wave conversion zone, i.e., the
surface of equal Alfv\'en and sound speed. In quiet regions, this surface
separates a highly dynamic magnetic field with fast moving magnetosonic waves
and shocks around and above it from the more slowly evolving field of high-beta
plasma below it. Third, the magnetic field also couples to the radiation field,
which leads to radiative flux channeling and increased anisotropy in the
radiation field. It is shown how faculae can be understood in terms of this
effect. The article starts with an introduction to the magnetic field of the
quiet Sun in the light of new results from the Hinode space observatory and
with a brief survey of measurements of the turbulent magnetic field with the
help of the Hanle effect.Comment: To appear in "Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the
Atmosphere of the Sun", eds. S.S. Hasan and R.J. Rutten, Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin, 200
The European Solar Telescope
The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project aimed at studying the magnetic connectivity of the solar atmosphere, from the deep photosphere to the upper chromosphere. Its design combines the knowledge and expertise gathered by the European solar physics community during the construction and operation of state-of-the-art solar telescopes operating in visible and near-infrared wavelengths: the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope, the German Vacuum Tower Telescope and GREGOR, the French Télescope Héliographique pour l’Étude du Magnétisme et des Instabilités Solaires, and the Dutch Open Telescope. With its 4.2 m primary mirror and an open configuration, EST will become the most powerful European ground-based facility to study the Sun in the coming decades in the visible and near-infrared bands. EST uses the most innovative technological advances: the first adaptive secondary mirror ever used in a solar telescope, a complex multi-conjugate adaptive optics with deformable mirrors that form part of the optical design in a natural way, a polarimetrically compensated telescope design that eliminates the complex temporal variation and wavelength dependence of the telescope Mueller matrix, and an instrument suite containing several (etalon-based) tunable imaging spectropolarimeters and several integral field unit spectropolarimeters. This publication summarises some fundamental science questions that can be addressed with the telescope, together with a complete description of its major subsystems